The Creemore
Echo
Friday, November 23, 2012 Vol. 12 No. 47 thecreemoreecho.com News and views in and around Creemore
Inside the Echo
An Educational Visit
Quarry Dancing
PAGE 3
PAGE 12
The show must go on!
Guides learn about newspapers
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Bryan Davies Photo
MEGA QUARRY APPLICATION WITHDRAWN
by Brad Holden For most people, making their thoughts known on social media or on the sidewalk, the initial reaction was disbelief. Over the course of the day though, as the news became real, disbelief became jubilation, albeit tinged with a hint of caution. The Creemore Echo received the news at 10 am on Wednesday, with an email from Highland Companies’ public relations firm, Hill & Knowlton. “The Highland Companies announced today that it is withdrawing its application to develop a quarry in Melancthon Township,” it said. John Scherer, speaking for Highland in place of John Lowndes, who resigned from his post as company president on Wednesday, explained the rationale behind the decision. “While we believe that the quarry would have brought significant economic benefit to Melancthon Township and served Ontario’s well-documented need for aggregate,” said Scherer, “we acknowledge that the application does not have sufficient support from the community and government to justify proceeding with
the approval process.” According to the release, Highland plans to continue focusing on its farms and on “supplying its customers with high quality potatoes and other crops.” The company is currently the largest potato producer in the province. Mulmur rancher Carl Cosack, who has led the North Dufferin Agricultural Task Force in opposing the quarry since the group was formed in 2009, said he felt “truly humbled” upon hearing the news. “There are a thousand pieces to the puzzle that beat this,” he said, “from the local residents, to the folks at the Creemore Farmers’ Market, to the media, to the chefs, to the politicians who got on board. We have had such tremendous support, and all of it has been courteous, professional and solutionsbased. I can’t thank people enough.” While Cosack said the news caught him unawares in the moment, the fact Highlands was withdrawing was actually not that surprising to him. The ongoing Environmental Assessment of the project was nearing the peer review stage, and according to Cosack, the sheer
size of the proposal was starting to look like too high a risk for the province. “I think Highland was beginning to see the writing on the wall,” he said. Cosack also sounded a note of caution, pointing out that the Aggregate Resources Act, which was under review when the provincial government prorogued parliament, remains unchanged. “We need to make sure those changes are made, or else five years from now we could be looking at this thing again,” he said. That said, the announcement remained a cause for celebration, said Cosack, and Wednesday would be remembered as a “tremendous day.” That thought was echoed by Maple Valley resident Miriam Streiman, who along with Sandi Wong and Donna Baylis worked tirelessly to get word of the quarry application out to Farmers’ Markets and community groups across southern Ontario. Streiman was also a major organizer of Foodstock and Soupstock. “This is a very special moment,” she told the Echo. “We never gave up, and today I’m proud to be a member of this community and a resident of Ontario.”
Cookies and a place to stay! by Brad Holden The owners of the four bed and breakfasts that make up the Creemore and Area Bed and Breakfast Association met recently to share their best cookie recipes, in preparation for their second annual Open House and Cookie Tasting Tour, scheduled for Sunday, December 2 from 1 to 4 pm. Angel House, Creemore Comforts, the Clearview Station & Caboose and Cedar Pond have been working together as an association since 2009, producing a website (creemorebb.com) and promotional materials and cooperating to make sure guests to the area find the booking that works for them.
In a way, they work as ambassadors for the village, and cite a recent study that found that day tourists to an area spend an average of $60, while overnight tourists average $300. They don’t just serve tourists, though... a lot of their business comes from friends and families of local people, up for a visit and needing a place to stay. For that reason, they encourage anyone and everyone to pay them a visit on December 2, to sample their delicious Christmas baking and to see what sort of accommodations they offer. “We’d love to see the whole village out,” said Pat Steer of Angel House.
Creemore and Area Bed and Breakfast Association members Bob and Ann Huskinson of the Clearview Station & Caboose, Wendy Schellenberg of Creemore Comforts, Lily White of Cedar Pond and Kate Ceccarelli and Pat Steer of Angel House.
Taking care of buyers and sellers in Mulmur and the Creemore hills for 36 years
RCR Realty. Brokerage
Ginny MacEachern
(705)
444-1414 10230 Highway 26 East, Collingwood E-mail info@collingwood.toyota.ca
B.A., Broker
The Town & Country Agent with the City Connections 1-800-360-5821• 705-466-2607 • maceachern.ginny@gmail.com www.ginnymaceachern.com